Hamas accepts five-hour humanitarian truce

Responding to a UN call, a Hamas official said that his movement had accepted a five-hour long humanitarian truce on Thursday starting at 10 am Gaza local time.

The official told Anadolu news agency that Hamas discussed the issue internally and consulted with other groups fighting on the ground before taking the decision.

The Israeli occupation army also announced that it accepted the truce to take effect. “In response to many requests from the UN, Israel decided to suspend military operations in Gaza tomorrow at 10 am until 3 pm,” spokesperson of the Israeli army Avichay Adraee tweeted on Wednesday evening.

On Wednesday, Israel radio reported that UN Peace Envoy to the Middle East Robert Serry had asked the Israeli government and Hamas to suspend action for five hours for humanitarian purposes.

Meanwhile, Farhan Haq, the spokesperson of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said the “secretary-general is continuing to make calls to world leaders in order to have them press the parties to halt fighting and return to negotiations.”

Israel has been carrying out a comprehensive military operation against the Gaza Strip since last Tuesday, 8 July, which has so far killed more than 200 Palestinians and wounded at least 1,600. Many of the casualties are children, women and the elderly.